Soft block for game playing and educating toddlers or children, and method for manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a soft block for play or education of children. The soft block includes a block body formed from expandable polypropylene (EPP), and a coating substance formed from silicone rubber material, which covers the entire surface of the block body. A male coupler and a female coupler are formed on the top surface and bottom surface, respectively, of the block body. A first magnet is built into the male coupler, and a second magnet is built into the female coupler. The coating part covers the entire surface of the block body having the first magnet and the second magnet built therein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a soft block for play or education ofchildren.

BACKGROUND ART

A toy block typically has a male coupler at an upper end thereof and afemale coupler at a lower end thereof so that the male coupler of theblock can be interlocked with the female coupler of another block toconstruct various objects.

“Lego” is a popular brand of toy blocks and is very popular amongchildren for the reason that various objects can be constructed by usingthe toy blocks.

However, since conventional toy blocks are typically made of hardplastic, children (particularly toddlers) are often injured by collidingwith the sharp corners of the toy blocks. Moreover, even adults areprone to hurt their feet by carelessly stepping on the toy blocks whenthe toy blocks are scattered on the floor.

In order to solve these problems, soft blocks that are made of a softmaterial have been manufactured. FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating a soft block.

The soft block illustrated in FIG. 1 is similar with conventionalLego-type hard blocks in that a male coupler protrudes from the topsurface of a block body and a female coupler is formed at a lower end ofthe block body, but differs in that the soft block is made of a softmaterial.

Soft blocks are typically manufactured by foam-molding a resin that isfrequently used for foam molding such as ethylene vinyl acetatecopolymer (hereinafter, abbreviated to EVA).

Korean Patent No. 10-1102054 (registered on Nov. 27, 2011), titled“Method for Manufacturing Soft Blocks,” discloses a conventional art.

As disclosed in the conventional art, conventional soft blocks aretypically manufactured using EVA foam.

Such a conventional soft block is advantageous over a conventional hardblock in that it has elasticity and shape memory properties that arebasic properties of a foam piece.

Since soft blocks are played with by children, they have to bemanufactured in consideration of the risk of children biting them.

In addition, soft blocks are relatively lightweight compared to hardblocks. The lighter the soft blocks, the more enjoyable experiencechildren may have playing therewith.

That is, conventional soft blocks still have problems to be solved. Forexample, the soft blocks have to be more lightweight and more durable soas not to be damaged even when children roughly handle them.

In addition, soft blocks have to have shape-matched male and femalecouplers so that they can be interlocked with each other.

However, conventional soft blocks made of EVA foam are not sufficientlylightweight to give children an enjoyable experience due to thecharacteristics of EVA foam. Further, such soft blocks are easilydamaged, and it is difficult to form shape-matched male and femalecouplers thereon.

EVA foam is known to have a density of about 0.2 to 0.4 g/cc. It isdifficult to lower the density of EVA foam to under that range. Even ifthe density can be lowered to under that range, there is a problem thata soft block made of such EVA foam with a density under that range iseasily damaged due to the low density.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problemsoccurring in the related art, and the present invention is intended toprovide a soft block that is more lightweight so as to provide a moreenjoyable experience during play, that is not easily damaged so as tohave durability even when children roughly handle the soft block, andthat has shape-matched male and female couplers.

Technical Solution

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of thepresent invention, there is provided a soft block for play or educationof children, including a block body made of expandable polypropylene(EPP) and a coating part made of silicone rubber which covers the entiresurface of the block body. The block body has a male coupler and afemale coupler formed on the top surface and bottom surface,respectively, thereof. A first magnet is built into the male coupler anda second magnet is built into the female coupler so that the secondmagnet can be combined with a first magnet of another soft block bymagnetic attraction. The coating part covers the entire surface of theblock body having the first magnet and the second magnet built therein.

The block body may have a density of 0.02 to 0.06 g/cc, and the coatingpart may have tensile strength that is 4.4 to 55 times stronger thanthat of the block body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for manufacturing a soft block for play or education ofchildren, the method including preparing a block body made of EPP, andforming a coating part on the entire surface of the block body, usingsilicone rubber, in which the block body has a male coupler protrudingfrom the top surface thereof and a female coupler that is recessed fromthe bottom surface thereof and is shape-matched with the male coupler;the block body is manufactured through molding of EPP foam; and a firstmagnet and a second magnet are insert-molded within portion of the blockbody at which the male and female couplers are to formed, when themolding of the EPP foam is performed.

The forming of the coating part on the surface of the block body may beperformed by inserting the block body into an injection mold andinjecting liquid silicone rubber into the injection mold so that theliquid silicone rubber is applied to the surface of the bloc body.

The block body may have a density of 0.02 to 0.06 g/cc, and the coatingpart may have a tensile strength that is 4.4 to 55 times stronger thanthat of the block body.

Advantageous Effects

As described above, the present invention provides a soft block that haselasticity and shape memory properties, is more lightweight so as togive a more enjoyable experience during play, is not easily damaged soas to have durability, even when toddlers roughly handle the soft block,and has shape-matched male and female couplers.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a soft block according to arelated art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a soft block according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the soft toby block ofFIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a softblock according to the embodiment.

BEST MODE

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is described withreference to the accompanying drawings so that those ordinarily skilledin the art will easily practice the present invention. However, thepresent invention can be embodied in many forms and thus is not limitedto the embodiment described below. Parts that are not relevant to thepresent invention are not illustrated in the drawings to more clearlydescribe the present invention. Like parts are denoted by like referencenumerals throughout the following description of this specification.

It will be understood that the terms “comprise”, “include”, “have”, etc.when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedelements, parts or steps but do not preclude the presence or addition ofone or more elements, parts, or steps.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a soft block according to oneembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematiccross-sectional view of the soft block of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchartillustrating a method for manufacturing a soft block according to theembodiment.

A soft block 100 according to the embodiment includes a block body 110,a first magnet 121, a second magnet 122, and a coating part 130.

The block body 110 is made of expanded polypropylene (EPP).

The block body 110 has a rectangular-parallelepiped body portion, a malecoupler 111 protruding from the top surface of the body portion, and afemale coupler 112 that is recessed from the bottom surface of the bodyportion and is shape-matched with the male coupler 111.

Apart from the rectangular parallelepiped shape, alternatively, the bodyportion of the block body 110 may take a cylinder shape or a facetedcylinder shape.

According to the embodiment, the block body 110 has two male couplers111 and two female couplers 112. However, the number of male couplers111 and the number of female couplers 112 may vary as necessary.

The male coupler 111 of one block body 110 is inserted into the femalecoupler 112 of another block body 110.

The block body 110 basically functions to maintain the shape of a softblock, and the density of the block body is preferably in the range from0.02 to 0.06 g/cc.

While the density of typical EVA foam is in the range from 0.2 to 0.4g/cc, the density of the block body 110 according to the embodiment isonly 1/10 times lower than that of conventional EVA foam. Accordingly,the block body 110 according to the embodiment is much lighter thanconventional block bodies.

In addition, a first magnet 121 is built into the male coupler 111 ofthe block body 110 and a second magnet 122 is built into the femalecoupler 112 of the block body 110.

The first magnet 121 and the second magnet 122 are arranged such thatthe first magnet 121 built into one soft bock can be combined with thesecond magnet 122 built into another soft block by magnetic attraction.

The first magnet 121 and the second magnet 122 are provided to solve theproblem that the male coupler of a soft block is not easy to bepress-fitted into the female coupler of another soft block. That is, thecombination of the soft blocks is enhanced by magnetic attraction.

The structure in which the first magnet 121 is built into the block body110 include not only a structure in which the first magnet 121 iscompletely embedded in the block body 110 but also a structure in whichonly the side and bottom surfaces of the first magnet 121 are embeddedin the block body 110 but the top surface of the first magnet 121 isexposed from the upper surface of the block body 110.

This structure also applies to the structure of the second magnet 122.

The entire surface of the block body 110 is coated with the coating part130 made of silicone rubber.

When the first and second magnets 121 and 122 are built into the blockbody 110 according to the embodiment, the entire surface of the blockbody 110 into which the first and second magnets 121 and 122 are builtis coated with the coating part 130.

The coating part 130 is preferably formed from liquid silicone rubber.

Typically, EPP has a tensile strength of 2 to 9 kg/cm² and a tearstrength of 1 to 6 kg/cm at most, but silicone rubber has high tensilestrength and tear strength, 40 to 110 kg/cm² and 6 to 45 kg/cm,respectively.

The tensile strength of the coating part 130 according to the embodimentis 4.4 to 55 times stronger than that of the block body 110.

The coating part 130 prevents the soft block from being damaged evenwhen children roughly handle the soft block, so that the durability ofthe soft block is improved.

A method for manufacturing the soft block will be described withreference to FIG. 4.

The method for manufacturing the soft block includes (1) preparation ofa block body 110 and (2) formation of a coating part.

(1) Preparation of Block Body

Preparation of the block body 110 includes a step of obtaining EPP foamand a step of molding the block body 110 using the EPP foam.

A first magnet 121 and a second magnet 122 are insert-molded withinportions of the block body 110 at which a male coupler 1111 and a femalecoupler 112 are to be formed during the step of obtaining EPP foam. Inthis way, the EPP foam into which the first magnet 121 and the secondmagnet 122 are built can be obtained.

After obtaining the EPP foam into which the first magnet 121 and thesecond magnet 122 are built, the EPP foam is molded to take the form ofthe block body 110, which includes a basic body portion with arectangular parallelepiped shape and male and female couplers.

According to the manufacturing method described above, since the EPPfoam is prepared first and molding of the EPP foam is performedafterward, it is possible to form precisely shape-matched male andfemale couplers 111 and 112.

When directly manufacturing the block body using a conventional expandedfoam molding, it is difficult to improve shape matching of moldedobjects.

(2) Formation of Coating Part

After the block body 110 is manufactured, the block body 110 is coatedwith liquid silicone rubber so that the entire surface of the block body110 is covered with the coating part 130.

Coating with liquid silicone rubber is performed by inserting the blockbody 110 into an injection mold and injecting liquid silicone rubberinto the injection mold.

The liquid silicone rubber can be injected at atmospheric pressure androom temperature or at relatively low pressure and temperature or curedunder similar conditions. Accordingly, there is no risk that the surfaceof the block body 110 may be damaged or the shape of the block body 110may be deformed due to high pressure or high temperature.

Alternatively, the coating part 130 may be formed by dipping the blockbody 110 into liquid silicone rubber.

When the coating part 130 is obtained through injection molding, thecoating part 130 may have a more uniform thickness so that preciselyshape-matched male and female couplers 111 and 112 can be formed.

The soft block according to the embodiment has the following advantages.

(1) Since the soft block has adequate elasticity and shape memoryproperties, which are characteristics of soft foam, it is possible toprevent an accident where a user is injured by colliding with sharpcorners of a hard block.

(2) The soft block according to the embodiment is lighter thanconventional soft blocks made of conventional EVA foam, is not easilytorn when children bite the soft block, and has precisely shape-matchedmale and female couplers.

(3) The soft blocks according to the embodiment can be easily combinedwith each other due to the first and second magnets, and the combinationof the soft blocks can be strongly maintained.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that the disclosed embodiment may be easily modified intoother specific forms, without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention aredisclosed only for illustrative purposes and should not be construed aslimiting the present invention. For example, one element presented inthe description may be implemented by plural divided elements. Likewise,plural elements presented in the description may be implemented by aunified single element.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the following claims,and also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and otherembodiments that are deprived from the spirit and scope of the claimsshould be construed to be included within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be used for play or education of children.

1. A soft block for play or education of children, the soft blockcomprising: a block body made of expandable polypropylene (EPP); and acoating part made of silicone rubber, wherein the block body has a malecoupler and a female coupler formed on a top surface and a bottomsurface, respectively, thereof, wherein a first magnet is built into themale coupler and a second magnet is built into the female coupler sothat the second magnet can be combined with a first magnet of anothersoft block by magnetic attraction, and wherein the coating part coversthe entire surface of the block body having the first magnet and thesecond magnet built therein.
 2. The soft block according to claim 1,wherein the block body has a density of 0.02 to 0.06 g/cc, and thecoating part has a tensile strength that is 4.4 to 55 times strongerthan that of the block body.
 3. A method for manufacturing a soft blockfor play or education of children, the method comprising: preparing ablock body made of expandable polypropylene (EPP); and forming a coatingpart on the entire surface of the block body using silicone rubber,wherein the block body has a male coupler protruding from the topsurface thereof and a female coupler that is recessed from the bottomsurface thereof and is shape-matched with the male coupler, wherein theblock body is manufactured through molding of EPP foam, and wherein afirst magnet and a second magnet are insert-molded within portion of theblock body at which the male and female couplers are to formed, when themolding of the EPP foam is performed.
 4. The method according to claim3, wherein the forming of the coating part on the surface of the blockbody is performed by inserting the block body into an injection mold andinjecting liquid silicone rubber into the injection mold so that theliquid silicone rubber is applied to the surface of the block body. 5.The method according to claim 3, wherein the block body has a density of0.02 to 0.06 g/cc, and the coating part has a tensile strength that is4.4 to 55 times stronger than that of the block body.